May 19, 2008

Visitor...
My sister came to visit over the weekend from Paris. It's only been a week since I've seen her, but it was great to have her here for two brief days. She arrived Saturday morning, and left really early this morning. We managed to see most of the important sites in the city this weekend, but I think our legs are now feeling all the walking we've done. The weather wasn't amazing, so we did have a few games of dodge the raindrops. My sister wanted to 'eat her way' through Madrid, so that's what we tried to do.
On Saturday we saw the major squares, and had some yummy tapas for lunch (patatas bravas, tortilla espagnola, and croquettas). We took a coffee break while enjoying a view of the royal palace, before going into the cathedral next to it which is controversial (for being so modern I think). We walked to El Retiro, a large park in the east of Madrid, and layed on the grass in the sun with some horchata and vanilla/chocolate ice cream. We picked up some pastries, then watched some traditional Madrid dancing as part of the San Isidro celebrations while having some sangria. For dinner (at 9:30PM) we had a picnic of sandwiches with jamón and chorizo, before heading out to a few places for drinks and more tapas.
For brunch on Sunday we had churros con chocolate (also very good, especially since the chocolate is so rich), before wandering through a few markets including El Rastro (one of the big/old outdoor markets in Madrid). We decided to check out the Prado and Reina Sofia museums in the afternoon, which was nice but a bit painful too as we'd been walking so much. Although the Dalí was rather interesting, we dragged our feet through to the exit. Continuing with the food theme we had a 'traditional' lunch/snack/dinner of kebab which turned out to probably be the best one I've ever had. we then found a little teteria near La Latina for some tea in a Middle Eastern setting. And of course we had to try some turrón (almond nugat). If I do say so myself, I think we did pretty well on the mission of eating our way through Madrid!

But of course it goes without saying that it was great to see my sister again, and I'm looking forward to seeing her again later this summer in July.
Two-Day Official Food Tally:
Tapas (x5)
Coffee (cortado)
Horchata
Ice cream
Pastries (x3)
Sangria (1.5L for 1Euro!)
Chorizo
Jamón sandwich
Cañas (a few)
Churros (x4) con chocolate
Kebab
Teteria
Turrón
Bailey's coffee

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay,I am officially jealous as I sit marking Science 9 exams on an overcast Victoria Day in Abbotsford. There is something seriously wrong with the order of life when your kids are having an absolute blast and one is still plodding along.

Great to hear the two of you are having a good time. Look forward to meeting up in France.

Happy Birthday to Cathryn!

Anonymous said...

Wow, an eating tour of Madrid!
Makes me jealous too

Stephen said...

It was very, very yummy!

Anonymous said...

bring back some of that sangria, it sounds delicious...and cheap!

Stefers511 said...

omgosh- chocolate and churros are the best!! I seriously would go back to Spain for those alone--and the late nights! (do you feel so Spanish Apartment-esque?)